


Sleep

by Cigarettes_and_Valentines



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Fluff, Insecurity, Insomnia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:54:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23864854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cigarettes_and_Valentines/pseuds/Cigarettes_and_Valentines
Summary: Ianto isn’t sure about their relationship. Jack sings him to sleep.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 4
Kudos: 54





	Sleep

“Ianto, it’s three in the morning. You should go home and go to sleep.” Jack leant against the open door to the archives. Everyone else had gone home, apart from Ianto, who seemed to nearly live in the hub, and Jack, who actually did live in the hub. Ianto was still leaning over the desk that had been wedged into a corner of the archives. Beside him was a cup of black coffee, strong enough to wake the dead and half gone cold from how long it had been sitting there. Ianto paid little mind to the mug, his attention focused on the object in front of him, which happened to be a small metal sphere. 

“What do you think, Jack?” Ianto kept his eyes on the object. “I’ve picked up a weak electromagnetic impulse but I can’t for the life of me figure out what it’s for.” Jack smiled and walked up to Ianto. He slid his arms around his middle and leaned against him, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. 

“I think you should go home and get some sleep.” Ianto softened slightly at the feel of Jack’s warm arms around him. He turned to give Jack a small smile before looking back at the alien device on the desk. 

“It’s alright.” He replied. “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d may as well get some work done.” Jack slowly trailed his hands down Ianto’s arms and took his hands, gently prying them away from the desk. He turned Ianto around to face him. The already pale and thin man looked even paler and thinner, a sallow and greyish tinge underlying his skin. Large dark bags had been forming under his eyes, growing in size and getting darker each day. After what had happened with Lisa and everything that had happened in the Brecon Beacons, Jack had made it a point to watch over Ianto more closer, and make sure that he was taking care of himself. But Ianto, as stubborn as ever, often refused to take care of himself even slightly. Often working overtime, he barely slept and rarely ate. He sometimes wondered how Ianto could go on without collapsing, the way he looked after himself. 

“Ianto,” Jack sighed. “You can’t keep staying up all night. You have to look after yourself.”

“I’ll be fine.” Ianto rolled his eyes. “I’ve dealt with much worse than a few late nights. I can catch up on sleep over the weekend.”

“That’s what you said last week.” Jack said. “And where did you end up last weekend?”

“Here.” Ianto shifted out of Jack’s grip and turned back to the desk. “But that was different. I needed to re-categorize our DNA samples from the weevils.” 

“Sure. And I’m sure that this weekend you’ll come up with another excuse to stay here all day too. Is my company really that good?” Jack cracked a playful smile. Ianto let out a soft chuckle. Jack leaned over to pick up Ianto’s cold mug of coffee. “Come on, how about you come to bed with me? I’m pretty sure this can wait until tomorrow.” 

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m not really in the mood tonight.” Ianto kept his gaze focused on the small metal sphere. They hadn’t really talked too much about what their relationship was, and in all honesty they really hadn’t shared a bed together for any reason other than sex. It wasn’t that Jack didn’t want to. It was just that he had a really hard time keeping his hands off of Ianto. A few months ago, Jack would have been terrified at the idea of sharing a bed with someone in a non-sexual way. That kind of emotional openness never bore well when you had so many secrets about yourself to keep. But Ianto needed this, and maybe he did too.

“I wasn’t talking about sex.” Jack’s grip on the mug tightened. “You need to sleep. Come on, I’ll even sing you a lullaby if you’re good.” He teased. 

“Really?” The word came out of Ianto’s mouth before he had a chance to stop it, and he instantly wanted to kick himself for sounding like a desperate, hopeful teenager. So far, it had just been sex. Sure, they kissed and flirted and shared takeaways, but it was all a prelude to the grand act. But this was something different; to just sleep without any other intentions. It felt like it was crossing a boundary somewhere, adding something else into their already complex relationship. 

Ianto knew that he could say no. That he could tell Jack that he didn’t want anything other than sex out of this relationship, and Jack would respect that. But he wasn’t sure if he’d wanted that. When Lisa was deep in the Torchwood basements, the thing that he missed the most wasn’t sex. It was her warm body next to his while he slept. It was being able to reach out in the middle of the night, wrap an arm around her, and just be content to know that she was there. Now he spent his nights in a cold, empty bed far too big for him. The promise of Jack’s strong arms around him as he slept were tempting, even though it would probably only get his hopes up for something that would never happen. 

“Really.” Jack replied. “It might be a bit of a tight fit, but it’s plenty comfy.”

“That’s no problem.” Ianto smiled faintly, thinking of the large, empty bed waiting for him in his flat. Jack extended his hand to Ianto and he took it, letting Jack lead him up to his office, and then down to the small bunker tucked away beneath it where he slept. 

Every time Ianto was brought to the room, he took a moment to take it in. With one small bed and some very plain looking furniture, the spartan room couldn’t seem more different to Jack’s ostentatious personality. But at the same time, it fit him perfectly. It was so contained, all secrets carefully tucked away, even though nobody would be likely to see them. Slowly, he took off his suit jacket and draped it over a bedpost. They undressed in relative silence, neither one of them particularly wishing to break the calm quiet. Eventually, when Ianto was left in only his boxers, Jack approached him and slipped his arms around his waist, gently touching their foreheads together. 

“You know, you really need to take better care of yourself.” Jack began. “Staying up all night and not eating properly, you can’t keep doing that.”

“I’m fine, really.” Ianto replied. “I’ve just been busy, that’s all.”

“Ianto please,” Jack raised one hand to gently stroke Ianto’s cheek. “Talk to me.” Ianto hesitated. In the small bunker, wrapped in Jack’s arms, he felt warm and safe. But letting out his deepest and darkest thoughts ran the risk of disturbing that peace. Making Jack worry about him more than he already did would ruin the rare, soft moment in front of them. Ianto just wanted to bury himself in Jack’s arms and not speak, but he knew that wasn’t going to happen. After everything that had happened after the whole mind-reading alien debacle and the thing with whatever “The Savior” turned out to be, Jack had really committed to look out for him more. He wasn’t going to give up on him now, whether Ianto wanted him to or not. 

“I don’t want to go home.” Ianto whispered, burying his head into Jack’s shoulder. “I can’t sleep there.” Ianto waited for a response, but instead of words, Jack simply responded by holding him even tighter. Ianto relaxed into Jack’s grip, allowing himself to be held. This was better. They didn’t need to communicate with words, they both understood the trauma of living a life with Torchwood too well. When Jack wrapped his arms around him so tightly, he knew what he meant.

_I know, I understand. I get it._

And maybe that wasn’t all Ianto needed, it was enough for now. 

Eventually, after what could have been minutes or hours, Jack carefully pulled away from Ianto, still not letting go of his hands. 

“Come on, let’s get you to bed.” Jack smiled. He pulled back the covers and led Ianto gently to his small bed. A wave of comfort washed over Ianto as his head hit the pillow. The bed was smaller than the one in his flat, and less comfortable too. The old, bumpy mattress that Jack probably hadn’t changed in a decade was no match for the fancy memory foam mattress he’d bought for himself at his flat. Yet, it was so much more comfortable. He lay half on top of Jack’s body. He rested his head on Jack’s shoulder, and draped half of himself over the rest of Jack’s warm body. With Jack’s arms still tightly wrapped around him, and their limbs tangled together, Ianto could finally feel relaxed and comfortable. Ianto was absentmindedly tracing patterns across Jack’s skin, turning to look up at him when he heard a faint humming. 

“What are you doing?” Ianto asked with a soft smile on his face. 

“Well, I said that I’d sing you a lullaby, didn’t I?” Jack replied. 

“I didn’t think you were being serious.” 

“I can be, if you want.” Jack smiled. “Do you want me to sing to you?” Ianto hesitated. This was already so sweet, so nice. He didn’t want to risk spoiling it, but at the same time, he wanted nothing more than the sound of Jack’s voice comforting him. 

“Sure.” Ianto replied, snuggling closer to Jack, and continuing to trace patterns across Jack’s skin. Jack grinned and began to sing softly. Ianto barely paid attention to the words. They weren’t even in English, or any language Ianto would understand. Jack had once explained that it was a song his mother used to sing to him back on his home planet. In an alien language, he couldn’t understand the meaning of the words, but the soft and gentle tones in Jack’s deep voice were soothing. He made a mental note to ask Jack what the lyrics meant, but he’d do that when he woke up. For now, he was content to lay against Jack, who had now moved one of his hands to stroke Ianto’s hair. Everything was so soft, gentle, and peaceful. With the dulcet tones of Jack’s voice rolling over him, and the warmth of his chest underneath him, it wasn’t long before Ianto’s eyelids began to feel heavy, the tiredness of not having a good night’s sleep in weeks creeping up on him. Questions of what their relationship was and what was coming tomorrow were laid aside and Ianto was glad he could enjoy one fleeting moment of peace as he fell into an uncharacteristic deep sleep.


End file.
